Traffic, A's and the Eye Doctor

Yesterday was one of those days, when it seemed I was back in the car every couple of hours taking one of the girls somewhere.

It was also the first full day of the Sawdust Festival. And the Pageant of the Masters began a few days ago. Traffic everywhere. I knew it was coming when I saw the orange cones placed in rows near the crosswalks downtown. I know these events are vital to our local economy, but geez. I felt like screaming when it took me four rounds to get thru a traffic light to make a right onto PCH! PCH was so packed that people were sitting in the middle of the intersection, so those of us turning could only make two cars per light! Welcome to summer in Laguna Beach.

There are a couple of hours in the morning that are what one would call "off peak" hours. Other than that, it was a wake up call for me to leave town by back route and not to shop in town until after Labor Day. Just a fact. We cannot get into our own town, well, of course we could, but what a waste of time that would be to sit in the traffic and you can forget getting a parking space.

There is a nice shuttle system. It is the canyon, before you enter downtown. Better for those coming into town and want to go to the festival or the pageant, or even shop. The shuttle will bring you in, drop you off and you can spend your whole day here. Get back on the shuttle and it will take you back to your car! Please do so if coming to town. You will avoid the parking nightmare and did I mention, it is free? Yes, totally and completely free. You can jump on and off at any time, for free! Where can you find anything free these days??? Right here in Laguna Beach! But, only the shuttle is free.

I took Zoe back to the eye doctor yesterday. Actually, I took her to the dude who does contacts. I liked him. He was exuberant and just really nice. Zoe was unimpressed. She is thirteen. Not much excites her at this age. A great new Anime movie perhaps, or getting four A pluses and two A's could do it....That is what we read on her report card yesterday. She was quite excited about that. I am very proud of her. But, she is not one of those giddy, giggly types.

So, this, I suppose he is an optometrist, but he asked who sent me to him. I said, "Jennifer. She was the doctor we saw on Monday." "Oh, I don't have Zoe's file," he said. I said, "You are in the same office and we were here four days ago!" "Well, let's go over and see what the machine says her numbers are," he replies. We got Zoe's numbers and he said, "Oh, her right eye is great, and yeah, her left eye is lazy." I am trying to keep calm, I really liked this guy, I said, "Yes, and Jennifer thinks we should get her a contact for the bad eye." He disagrees. "It will not help, her right eye is doing all the work. We can improve the eye a bit, but it will be a waste of money," he says. He pops a lens in Zoe's eye. Hates it instantly. We ask her if it is something she would consider? Nope. He asked her, "Do you wear glasses now?" She told him she did until she started getting headaches. "Hmm, well, did you bring your glasses with you?" he asked. No glasses were brought. He said, "The only reason I would put her in glasses is to protect her good eye. If something happened to her good eye, she would be legally blind," he said. I told him that Jennifer had pounded that point home on Monday. He told me that she had to do that to protect herself. Then I mention that Jennifer said Zoe would be a good candidate for laser surgery when she was eighteen...His eyes got big and he said, "That will not help her at all. Her brain never taught her right eye to see. Surgery is for a bad cornea, her cornea is fine." I take a deep breath and say, "So, you are totally disagreeing with everything Jennifer said!" He says, "No, I am not saying that." I roll my eyes along with my very wise thirteen year old. Then I tell him, "Well, I am very unhappy about all of this!" Zoe bursts out laughing! She is more used to my saying something like, "Are you shitting me? This really pisses me off!" So, she found the "very unhappy" comment, funny.

We before we left, from a no charge visit, he said, "I will talk to Jennifer when she comes in, a week from Monday." I told him thank you and we left. We laughed while we discussed his face when I asked him, "So, you disagree with everything Jennifer said?" and at his response, "No, I am not saying that." He very obviously did! This is a prominent ophthalmology center. The only thing Zoe really needs would be goggles for playing sports. Or just polywhatever lenses, in glasses. What really pisses me off is for the last six years, we have paid about $400 for each pair of her glasses. The lens for the bad eye was thick and magnified her eye. So, we opted for a more expensive lens that would not do that! All the while, we could have gotten regular, no scrip, lenses! Letting it go now!!!!!! Ohm........Ohm.......Ohm........gone.

And, I did get lost getting there again. But only one wrong turn! Now, I really know my way there, and we will not be back!

Katharine has been a social butterfly. As usual, her report card was all A's like Zoe's usually is. She got two A pluses as well. She is competitive and will be upset that Zoe got more A pluses....Oh well. I am lucky they are so smart and can do their own homework...That comes from their father's side! LOL....This is just one day of Katharine's schedule lately. Leave sleepover, be driven to rehearsal for Suessical (right smack in the middle of the festival),  driven home for a while, before another friend invites her to swim. Home to dry hair and burn three cd's, then off to a going away party bonfire at the beach, for a really good friend. She has had three sleepovers this week. I had to insist she have some down time, so she doesn't get run down and sick...She told me she has a cold. I told her I rest my case! She has only been out of school for a week. I fully expect her to sleep til noon today...For all of our sakes!

So, as much as I will try to avoid the traffic clusterfuck, I have to go into it five times in the morning and five times in the afternoons, to retrieve Katharine from rehearsals. Hopefully, we will do some carpooling.....

I was very sad to hear of the death of Luther Vandross. He was so amazing. BTW, does anybody know if we can watch the Live8 concert on TV????